New Book for Collectors of Modern FRNs 1963-2009 by Robert Aziapu

Whitman Publishing released The Collector’s Guide to Modern Federal Reserve Notes Series 1963-2009 by Robert Azpiazu on December 5.

In the Forward Art Friedberg says that no greater compliment can be paid to a book for collectors than that it stimulated another form of collecting -- and this book accomplishes that. I never cared much for modern paper. But leafing through the dense tables and authoritative summaries, I gained a new appreciation for a form of money that I handle often, but never truly perceived. I went back and read the Forward and the Introduction. Then, I looked at the bills that I happen to have right now, identifying the plate position letter and number and the plate serial number. I can tell that my $2 series 1996 Non-Star Block FA serial number 49868372 is one of the last produced for a run that ended with 51200000. Knowing more about it, I appreciate it a bit more. To me, that is what numismatics is all about: understanding the forms and uses of money. But collecting is nothing if not an obsession ... and it so happens that I save a little stash of $1s from New York City which I keep in "Chapter 6: Gold and Economic Freedom" by Alan Greenspan in Ayn Rand's Capitalism: the Unknown Ideal. Now, I have six notes to play with, all series 2006. Five are from Ft. Worth. I can lay them out in the geometry of the Subject Sheet. Three bear the same reverse plate number. It's almost like being in the plant. I can smell the ink, hear the presses...

Well, OK, every collector has their own passions. Radar notes, repeaters, errors of many kinds, by series, by signature... I have some academic medals and it just seems appropropriate now to add a Lawrence H. Summers note from Boston to them.

Arthur L. Friedberg’s Forward to this book is here.

Robert Azpiazu's own retail website First City Currency is here.

 

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I'm confused by this statement. Assuming you meant Series 1995, the standard print runs at the time were 6,400,000 notes (200,000 sheets of 32). So run #8 would cover serials 44800000 through 51200000, but your note isn't particularly near the end of that range--it's about 80% of the way through the run. Am I missing something here?

 

Robert did a wonderful job on his new Guide. I've been using his old Guide (1963-2003A $1 only) for some time now, and I've had the new edition for about 3 weeks, and I'm transferring my own footnotes from the old guide to the new guide along with adding the rest of the denominations. As an added bonus, I got Robert to autograph my edition.